Shamrock Rovers are ready to pick up the UEFA Conference League baton once again and continue their fairytale voyage into the unknown territory that is the knock-out stages of European competition.
Rovers are the first League of Ireland team to extend their European campaign beyond the end of the calendar year, and they now face Norwegian side Molde for a place in the last 16 of the competition.
Stephen Bradley’s side’s pre-Christmas campaign in the league phase was so impressive that they remarkably just missed out on an automatic place in the next round, which would have come with a top-eight finish.
As it turned out, Rovers ended the six-match shoot-out with the same amount of points as…